We’re not talking about the cheap, fried-and-dried college provisions.

This is all about warming, commonly pork-based noodle broths, with traditional toppings such as pork belly, soft-cooked eggs and scallions: 20 Feet Seafood Joint’s Marc Cassell serves the dish as an homage to his daughter living in Japan. Joey and Lan Chi Le’s new Tanoshii Ramen and Bar in Deep Ellum is Dallas’ first restaurant devoted to ramen. Teichii Sakurai serves a classic bowl at Tei-An, and John Tesar takes seafood ramen upscale at Spoon.

The basic formula is simple: broth, noodles, toppings. Think about burgers: simple, too. But consider all the permutations of meat, bun and condiments. Ramen’s like that.

For home cooks, it’s easy to make but requires several steps. “The most important thing is being patient with the broth,” says Lan Chi Le, who is also a dentist. “Two, three, four hours, and it’s not right. It takes about six hours at a good boil.”

The noodles, Le explains, are always made of wheat. “Of course, there are the toppings, which could be anything you want,” she says, “which is the great thing.”

And, Le says, once the soup’s placed in front of you, do not be afraid to slurp. “It’s very OK!” she says. “In Eastern cultures, slurping is a good thing!”

Read on for how to make it, how to eat it and where to find ingredients.

Tanoshii Ramen and Bar, the city’s first ramen house, just opened in Deep Ellum, and the dish is popping up at places as diverse as Spoon, 20 Feet Seafood Joint and Whiskey Cake. Toko V, which opened last week above Village Kitchen, also has ramen on the menu.

For many years, the only place to find it was Japanese restaurants, such as Tei-An and Sushi Robata.

Here’s a quick rundown of ramen basics so you can make a fabulous bowl at home.

What is it? Often pork-broth based, ramen is a noodle soup with extras that’s eaten in Japan as fast food. “It has also evolved to be chicken or vegetarian,” says Lan Chi Le, co-owner of Tanoshii. She and her husband, Joey, have traveled extensively to Tokyo and are working closely with noodle maker Yamato. The basic elements are broth, noodles and toppings.

How many kinds are there? “There are hundreds of different kinds,” says Teichii Sakurai, chef-owner of Tei-An, but three generally dominant styles: tonkotsu, miso and shoyu.

“In Hokkaido [the northern part of Japan], it’s very popular based on miso broth,” says Sakurai. “Tokyo is soy-based shoyu ramen.” (Shoyu means soy in Japanese.) Pork broth-based tonkotsu is popular in Kyushu, he says, in the south.

The broth: Pork-based is most common, says Le. Traditional pork broths have a milky-white color, adds Sakurai, which comes from bone marrow and long cooking. Some chefs, such as Marc Cassell, who owns 20 Feet Seafood Joint, prefer a clear broth. The primary ingredients in the broth are pork neck bones, trotters (pigs’ feet) and sometimes other cuts.

The tare: The seasoning blend flavors ramen broth, says Le. The recipe she shared includes the tare as part of the main recipe.

The noodles: Ramen noodles can be curly or straight, says Le. The packaging is highly variable, but you want to avoid the cheap, freeze-fried ramen noodles with soup-base packets. Look for straight ramen noodles or wavy, nonfried instant noodles. Wheat is the operative ingredient, she says, and it’s OK to use Chinese noodles, including wheat noodles made with egg. We found straight, organic ramen noodles at Asia World and Super H Mart. But you can even feel confident using very thin Italian pasta, according to Asian cookbook author Nina Simonds. It’s probably better to skip the fresh noodles in the refrigerator sections of Asian stores.

The toppings: “Pork belly [chashu] is a very typical ramen topping,” says Sakurai. “Also, scallions and pickled and marinated bamboo shoot.” Another common topping: soft-cooked eggs. “We like to put in a green vegetable like bok choy or mustard green,” says Le. “It just makes a good balance in the bowl.” Twenty Feet Seafood Joint uses spinach, and Whiskey Cake adds fresh basil.

How to eat it: Pick up the noodles and other solids with chopsticks in your dominant hand. Use a spoon, preferably Japanese, for the broth in your other hand. Slurp the noodles into your mouth rather than biting them and letting the pieces fall back into the soup. “Not cutting the noodles is a superstitious thing about longevity,” says Le.

About the ingredients: Special ramen ingredients, from pork belly to Japanese soy sauce, can be found at large Asian grocers. Super H Mart and Asia World Market are Tanoshii co-owner Lan Chi Le’s favorites. Note that Japanese soy sauce is different from Chinese soy sauce, and light soy sauce is different from regular soy sauce. Both stores have pork belly, pork neck bones and trotters as well as large selections of dry noodles.

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